About one flight in 19 worldwide reached its destination an hour or more late between November 2025 and October 2026. We tracked every month of that year in AirAdvisor's flight database to show when, where and how often flights go wrong.
Why this matters: a long delay or a cancellation costs passengers connections, nights and holiday days. Knowing which months and countries carry the most risk helps travellers plan, and gives journalists a current, month-by-month picture of air travel reliability.
Key Takeaways
- 5.3% of flights worldwide arrived 60+ minutes late over the 12 months, rising to 7.2% in July. April was the calmest month at 3.2%.
- Cancellations peaked in March 2026, when 5.2% of flights worldwide were cancelled, and long-haul flights made up 29% of that month's cancellations.
- Flights to and from EU airports ran late less often than the world average (4.3% against 5.3%), yet Europe had the worse January of the two.
How Flight Delays Changed Month by Month
The first chart follows the share of flights worldwide that arrived at least an hour late in each of the last 12 months.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Delays climbed steadily from May and peaked in July (7.2%) and August (7.0%). December and January formed a second, smaller peak, with January at 6.2%. April stood out as the most reliable month, with only 3.2% of flights an hour late, less than half the July rate. Across the summer quarter of June to August, the rate averaged 6.8%, against 4.1% in spring. For the longer view of disruption trends, see our global flight disruption statistics.
Worldwide vs Europe: Who Runs Later?
Here the worldwide line is set against flights to and from EU airports. Watch how the gap between them changes in winter.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide and flights to and from EU airports, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
In ten of the 12 months, European flights ran late less often than the global average, by roughly one percentage point at the summer peak. January 2026 was the clearest exception: 6.7% of flights to and from EU airports arrived an hour or more late, above the worldwide rate of 6.2% and the worst month of the year for Europe. Spring was quieter still in Europe, with April at only 1.8%. For official context, EUROCONTROL reports that in 2025 76.1% of flights in its network arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, 3.5 points better than in 2024 but still below the 78.1% of 2019. Our EU and UK flight delay statistics cover the European picture in more depth.
Cancellations: March Stands Out
Cancelled flights never count as late, so they need their own measure. This chart shows the share of scheduled flights that were cancelled in each month.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide and flights to and from EU airports, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Worldwide, the cancellation rate sat at around 2% to 3% in most months, then jumped to 5.2% in March 2026, the highest of the year. January (4.4%) and July (3.7%) were the next worst months. Flights to and from EU airports were cancelled far less often, at 1.1% over the year, but Europe followed a similar pattern, with its highest rates in March (2.4%) and January (2.2%). Our global flight cancellation statistics put these figures in a longer context.
The Year in Three Numbers: Worldwide vs Europe
Putting the full 12 months together gives a simple comparison of the three main kinds of disruption.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide and flights to and from EU airports, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
A traveller flying anywhere in the world over the last year faced roughly a one in 12 chance that a flight would be either cancelled or at least an hour late. On flights to and from EU airports, the figure was about one in 19. Delays of three hours or more, the point at which EU passenger rights start to pay compensation, affected 0.8% of flights worldwide and 0.5% in Europe. Roughly one in seven hour-long delays worldwide went on to pass the three-hour mark.
Which Flights Were Cancelled: Short, Medium and Long-Haul
Splitting cancellations by flight distance shows what kind of flying was hit each month. The bands match the distance bands used in EU Regulation 261/2004.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Short flights of under 1,500 km make up most cancellations in a normal month, because they make up most flights. March 2026 broke that pattern. Cancelled long-haul flights of over 3,500 km alone equalled 1.5% of all scheduled flights that month, against about 0.3% at most in any other month. Medium-haul cancellations also rose sharply. On flights to and from EU airports, long-haul flights made up 57% of March cancellations. The data shows the pattern clearly, but it does not record why the flights were cancelled.
Where the Longest Delays Happen by Distance
Delays of three hours or more matter most to passengers. This chart shows how they split between short, medium and long flights, worldwide and in Europe.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, all flights worldwide and flights to and from EU airports, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Worldwide, 57.1% of 3+ hour delays came on short flights of under 1,500 km. In Europe the mix is very different: long-haul flights of over 3,500 km accounted for 36.5% of all 3+ hour delays on flights to and from EU airports, more than double their share worldwide. These are also the flights where EU compensation is highest, at up to EUR 600 per passenger.
Six Big European Markets Compared
National averages vary more than the European total suggests. These six countries are among Europe's largest aviation markets, and the figures cover every flight departing or arriving in each.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, flights departing or arriving in each country, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Italy and the United Kingdom had the highest delay rates, with 5.2% and 5.1% of flights an hour or more late. Germany had the lowest delay rate of the six at 3.0%, yet the highest cancellation rate, at 1.5%. Spain shows the reverse: frequent delays but the fewest cancellations, at 0.8%. Comparing countries on punctuality alone would miss this difference.
When Cancellations Hit Each Country
The monthly view shows that each country's cancellations were concentrated in a few months.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, flights departing or arriving in each country, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Germany's high yearly figure comes mostly from spring: 3.6% of flights in March and 5.1% in April were cancelled, against around 1% in most other months. France had its worst month in January, when 3.4% of flights were cancelled and 9.0% arrived an hour or more late, the highest monthly delay rate of any of the six countries. The United Kingdom had three separate cancellation peaks, in January, March and September. Spain stayed below 1.5% in every month.
Which European Countries Have the Most Delayed Flights
This ranking covers departures from 31 European countries over the full 12 months. Look at where the holiday markets sit.
Source: AirAdvisor's flight database, flights departing airports in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.
Cyprus had the highest delay rate, with 6.0% of departures arriving an hour or more late, followed by Portugal, Greece, Malta and Italy, all southern holiday destinations. The most punctual countries were in the north: Norway (2.1%), Sweden, Germany, Estonia and Finland. Cancellations follow a different map. The Netherlands had the highest cancellation rate of the 31 countries at 2.5%, while Greece cancelled only 0.5% of departures despite its high delay rate.
The US Picture: Official Figures for 2026
The US Bureau of Transportation Statistics publishes on-time and cancellation figures for the largest US airlines. Its latest data runs to August 2026, so this chart compares January to August in each year.
Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance: Reporting Operating Carrier Flight Delays at a Glance, January to August of each year, accessed 13 November 2026.
US airlines cancelled 2.20% of scheduled flights between January and August 2026, up from 1.57% in the same months of 2025 and about level with 2019. On-time performance also slipped: 74.5% of flights arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, against 75.6% a year earlier. The US figures use a stricter 15-minute measure of lateness than the 60-minute measure used elsewhere on this page, so the two sets of figures should not be compared directly.
What to Expect When You Fly
The last 12 months suggest a few practical patterns for anyone booking flights.
- Spring and late autumn are the safest bets. April had the lowest delay rate worldwide and in Europe, and November 2025 was the second calmest month.
- Summer brings the most delays. July and August had the highest share of flights an hour or more late, so leave extra time for connections. Our peak travel season delay statistics show how this pattern repeats year after year.
- Winter brings the biggest swings in Europe. January was Europe's worst month for delays and its second worst for cancellations.
- Know the three-hour mark. Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers can be owed EUR 250, EUR 400 or EUR 600 depending on flight distance. Compensation for delays applies from three hours of late arrival, and the June 2026 reform agreement between the European Parliament and the Council kept that three-hour threshold. Cancellations can also qualify, unless the airline gave at least two weeks' notice or can show extraordinary circumstances.
References and Sources
- AirAdvisor's flight database, worldwide, EU and country reports, data for 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, accessed 13 November 2026.
- EUROCONTROL, European Aviation Overview: 2025 Review, 23 January 2026: eurocontrol.int
- US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance: Reporting Operating Carrier Flight Delays at a Glance, January to August 2017 to 2026, accessed 13 November 2026: transtats.bts.gov
- European Parliamentary Research Service, Air passenger rights, updated 30 June 2026: europarl.europa.eu
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on air passenger rights: eur-lex.europa.eu
Methodology
Delay and cancellation figures come from AirAdvisor's flight database, which merges schedule and status data from OAG and other providers. The period covers 12 full months, from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026. Worldwide figures cover all flights in the database. European monthly figures cover flights to and from airports in the 27 EU member states. The six-country comparison covers flights departing or arriving in each country, and the 31-country ranking covers departures from the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. A flight counts as delayed when it reached the arrival gate 60 or more (or 180 or more) minutes after its scheduled time; delayed counts exclude cancelled flights. Cancellation rates are cancelled flights divided by all scheduled flights.
The database stores one record per flight number, so a codeshare flight appears once for each airline that sells it, and its coverage changes from month to month (for example, the number of records for France and Germany rises sharply in April 2026). For that reason we publish percentages only, never flight counts, and single-month rates for individual countries should be read with care. Twelve-month rates add up the counts for all months before dividing. Distance bands follow EU Regulation 261/2004: under 1,500 km, 1,500 to 3,500 km and over 3,500 km; band shares are calculated from flights with a known distance. "One in 19" is rounded from 5.3% (worldwide delays of 60+ minutes) and 5.4% (European delays of 60+ minutes plus cancellations); "one in 12" is rounded from 8.3% (worldwide delays of 60+ minutes plus cancellations). EUROCONTROL and US Bureau of Transportation Statistics figures are quoted as published and count a flight as on time within 15 minutes of schedule. All figures are historical; none are forecasts. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
